


shine on me like this

by lydtograce



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, He just needs love, M/M, Single Parents, been through is exo's superior song that's all goodnight, but they mean well, i wrote this at 1am and listened to been through for a straight three hours whilst writing it, jongdae is emo, minseok's girls are little shits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 05:20:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13943562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydtograce/pseuds/lydtograce
Summary: the one in which minseok is a single parent to twins, but jongdae needs looking after too.





	shine on me like this

"You know, the whole reason I came out with you and I got a babysitter for the twins was so that I wouldn't be stuck looking after a kid tonight."

Minseok - to the untrained ear - would appear riled; Jongdae note a lack of malice to lace his scolding, and subsequently cracked a wide beam, arm slung about the elder's shoulders, "You're two years older than me, stop acting like you're off to collect your pension. Old ass man." Again, their relationship - to that of an observer - would seem negatively connoted, as opposed to the endearing banter they exchanged; words and teasing shaped by a lengthy decade at each other's side. 

The elder choked, fingers curling about a cup balanced against the bar top. It was brimming with diet coke - something Jongdae had, upon downing what Minseok assumed his (at least) fifth glass of bitter vodka, mocked him for. Minseok defended himself in that the babysitter could call about an issue at any moment, and at least one of them had to be sober enough to drive. He'd then inquired (playfully, of course), as to whether the other wished to assign himself the designated driver position. A joking question of which earned him a stare that seemed to believe he'd had three heads. He'd chuckled.

"Dae, don't drink much, yeah? Remember we're old now. And old means our tolerance is..." A thumbs down was flashed, alongside the jutting outwards of a lower lip. His worries weren't misplaced, of course, considering Jongdae's last drunk exploits had result in a vacuum cleaner being flung down Minseok's stairs, waking up both of his kids. He'd been hesitant to bring Jongdae to his house after that, for fear the early morning adventures had stained his kids with some kind of strange trauma and fear of vacuum cleaners. Evidently, this belief had been stupid - considering that for the following week his children would inquire regarding Jongdae's whereabouts at every opportunity. Minseok caved and allowed him his visits once more - though he remained cautious of Jongdae's inebriated states about his twins. These inebriated states, he'd noted, seemed to become ever more frequent. 

Minseok worried.

"Dae, I'm serious," the elder's hands moved so as to unearth a glass from Jongdae's tight grasp, replacing the item with his own appendage - and squeezing the other's hands tightly, "Please don't drink too much. Especially if we're headed back to mine later. Eunhee is a light sleeper nowadays, especially."

Where Jongdae's gaze was wide, Minseok's was pleading, and the former had truly no choice but to nod; he drew his hands free of the other's hold, instead opting to raise them in surrender, "No drinking away my sorrows because my drunk ass might wake up Eunhee when we go back to yours. I got you. I hear you loud and clear, chief." Jongdae's hands dropped back to his sides to emit a loud clap of impact - and a man reclining against the bar craned a curious gaze towards the pair, evidently startled by the sound. Unamused by the view he was gifted, his attention dropped back to the beer he was sliding back and forth across the bar top; passing from one hand to the other. The motion, momentarily, ensnared Minseok's attention; of whom observed with a tilt head. Jongdae would clear his throat, startling Minseok's attention into falling back upon the other.

"If I'm not drinking, talk to me. How's the old love life?" The duo were propped against the bar now, facing each other as their elbows balanced against the wood to keep them upright, and at the question supplied Minseok's nose wrinkled as if tickled by a vile, sour scent, "I haven't really tried. As cliche single parent I sound, my life is the girls now. Any other woman comes second. Or third, technically, because they're twins. But in my world both of them rank first." He paused, gesturing loosely at Jongdae with the hand that clutched his half full glass of coke, "You come second, so I guess any other woman really does come third."

The younger had listened with something Minseok could only name as a grimace of pain, and in attempt to turn such an expression positive, his next inquiry was placed, "How about you, Dae? You had a date, right? Baekhyun, or whatever?"

Jongdae - despite not drinking anything at the time - choked.

His hands moved almost as hurriedly as his voice yelled an explanation, waving frantically at the air between them, "No. No! God no! Baekhyun wasn't a date - god - Chanyeol would murder me. Baekhyun was the friend I complained to about the date because you were busy with Yoora's chicken pox. The date himself didn't last long." None of Jongdae's dates lasted long - Minseok mused with a frown. He simply wanted his friend happy, it was a shame that the friend himself didn't seem to want to be happy. The older male breathed out a heavy sigh. "You have to date soon, Dae. Or at least give it a good try. You're twenty five. You don't have too much longer to find the guy for you." A playful nudge against the other's rib cage, as Minseok offered a loose smile, "Unless you've already found him, and you're hiding him from me because you're scared the girls and I will scare him off."

Jongdae looked almost in pain, at this point, and Minseok's brow furrowed harshly; gaze narrowing. "Are you okay? You look... Not good. Do you want to leave? I'm sure the babysitter won't mind getting let off earlier, especially considering I'm forcing the girl to suffer through Yoora's 'Frozen' stage." Smaller male unresponsive, Minseok opt to summarise his own answer for the question, and grasped at the other's hand - dragging him through the wave of the crowd and pausing only beside his car; fumbling for his keys.

Even as they clambered into the vehicle - Jongdae a passenger and Minseok the driver - the former remained silent. And even as they drove, he instead opt to gaze aimlessly out of the window; as if observing the Seoul landscape as they passed it by. Gaze cast to his side momentarily, the oldest of the pair opt to finally shatter whatever strange silence had come across them, "Eunhee has a boyfriend, apparently. Not sure if it's true or if Yoora's just trying to get her sister in trouble, but either way, it reminded me that I'm old. So I'm sorry if that comment about you not having much time left to find someone hurt your feelings or whatever. Just take comfort in the fact that I'm even older, and I don't have anyone either. It's fine."

Jongdae squirmed in his chair, fiddling with the material of the seat belt for a moment as Minseok's words were mused across. It must've been five minutes following the conclusion of the eldest's short talk, that Jongdae piped up. His voice was quiet, careful, but trembled ever so - despite his obvious caution, "But you do have people. You have people. You have your girls. And you have your friends, Junmyeon and Luhan and all the others. You have people." A shaky breath, "You have me. You have me in so many ways," the volume to his voice fell, and he pressed his forehead against the cold glass of the car window, "You don't even realize them all." Minseok cast a stare across at the other, lips parting as to inquire as the car rolled to a stop outside his home. Before the words were considered and uttered, however, Jongdae had pushed at the car door and began towards the front door - leaving his friend hurrying after him with the keys.

Minseok had been right - of course - the babysitter was thankful to be let off early; the remnants of an Elsa temporary tattoo staining her cheek informed that the night had been eventful, and Minseok let out a sharp exhalation as he considered the chore of putting what was sure to be a duo of hyperactive six year old's to bed.

It would appear, though, that his thoughts were incorrect - as a rounded corner gifted him with a most... odd, tableau.

Jongdae had, seemingly, taken a seat in the armchair positioned closest to the kitchen - and promptly fallen asleep. Such was unsurprising, considering the amount of alcohol ingested over the two hours period of their outing. Minseok's surprise, however, stemmed from the location of his daughters. Yoora had discovered Jongdae first, he'd noted, and had wrapped herself in a blanket (draping the smallest amount across Jongdae's thighs), and nestled herself into an uncomfortable sleeping position upon Jongdae's lap. Eunhee - the strange sleeper she was - had mimicked her sister's 'blanket burrito' method, tightly wrapped in covers as she dozed from her place upon the arm of the chair, head tilt to rest against Jongdae's shoulder.  
Minseok smiled.

The strange trio awoke - quite scarily - simultaneously the following morning; shaken by the scent of a beeping fire alarm and the frantic whacks of towel against air. Jongdae snorted, cautiously displacing Yoora from his lap and Eunhee from his shoulder, before moving to join the other in the kitchen; amused smirk embracing the line of his lips as Minseok's attempts to beat away the remaining smoke storm continued.

Upon noting the entrance of the younger (followed closely by his mini fan club), Minseok gasped, towel flung aside as he fell to a crouch, "Ra! Hee! Did you miss me last night? Or were you too busy with that loser?" His final statement was accompanied by a dismissive flick of the head in Jongdae's direction - of whom spluttered indignantly. His girls genuinely had no loyalty, seemingly, as their gazes narrowed to observed their father. Yoora moved to clutch Jongdae's leg, tongue jut out in her father's direction, "Jongie buys me ice cream when he picks us up from school, you make us go to school. I know my favourite!" She'd beam upwards, and as easy to melt as he was - Jongdae caved, and dipped to draw Yoora up in his arms. Minseok huffed.

"Eunhee, your sister is disloyal. You prefer your dad, right? I'm better?"

The smaller of the twins gazed curiously between the two males, head inclined as she considered this inquiry. Summary drawn moments later, Eunhee moved toward her father, squealing with delight as he opt to raise her into his arms. "Good girl, Eunhee. You're loyal." Atop the smaller's head, Minseok mimicked Yoora's earlier tease and stuck his tongue out in Jongdae's direction, of whom playfully rolled his eyes - gaze falling to Eunhee once more as the girl began speaking, "But! Just because I came to papa doesn't mean I prefer you. I like both of my dads equally. I'm not choosing." 

Jongdae choked. He'd started making a habit of that.

In his arms, Yoora squirmed, arms flailing as if to slap at her sibling, "Don't be silly, Hee! We have one dad, and then we have Jongie. Jongie is like a dad, but he isn't. Because he and papa aren't married yet. When they get married, then we'll have two dads. Silly." She tut, shaking her head towards Minseok - of whom stared open mouthed - as if she couldn't believe that this was the sister she'd been forced to deal with.

Jongdae placed the taller of the two down, crouching so as to match her eye level, "Ra, your dad and I aren't getting married, right? That'd just be stupid." He laughed - emptily, Minseok observed - gaze craned upwards towards the elder as if he were begging for help. He received none, instead simply earning Yoora's famed glare, "But why not? You both like each other! It'd just be stupid if you don't get married. You're both idiots!" And now Minseok joined the conversation, gently placing Eunhee back upon the ground, before moving to kneel beside his tallest, "One, don't call people stupid, and don't call them idiots. Two, Jongdae and I don't like each other in the way that married people like each other, so we're not getting married." As he murmured, Minseok note a curling feeling of guilt at the pit of his stomach. He ignored it.

Yoora, however, pressed it - arms folding tightly again her chest, "That's a lie. I know you like Jongie! In the married people way! When you look at him your eyes go all mushy. And he likes you! I can tell, because when you talk about other people he looks all... hurty." Her hands moved, as she struggled with the word. Jongdae helped, "Jealous, Ra. I look jealous. That's it." Minseok now, was the one who required help; he struggled to summon the words he needed. The words he wanted. The words that were necessary. And because he struggled, Jongdae stood - nervous hand ran through the length of his hair, "I'll walk home. I'm not that far, anyway. Even if it'll be awkward, Min, I really do want you to know that I support your relationship with anyone, and I'll keep visiting your girls, and I can still do the school run when your busy, I won't make it any more awkward than it has to be, I swear to you." Jongdae's words were hurried and rushed, his hands moving wildly in a panic.

Minseok moved upwards before he'd been given enough time to consider the backlash to his action, and grasped at Jongdae's face; thumbs running across the sharp lines to the other's cheekbones as he lurched forwards. Jongdae's lips tasted of his peach lipbalm, and Minseok smiled lightly into the motion as the other's hands dropped to encircle his waist; his own hands still held to clutch the other's visage closely, as their lips resumed to collide and draw away - as if engaged in some sort of odd battle. As if realizing that they'd garnered of audience of two young girls, the duo drew away; both dusted a gentle scattering of soft pink. Jongdae's hand still lingered at Minseok's waist; holding him closely, and the realization of such brought Minseok to crane and smile lightly. Jongdae beamed, pressing that of a gentle kiss atop the other's nose.

Disturbed by a cough, the duo's gaze fell, to observe the duo of young one's who stared up at them. Yoora, of course, spoke;

"So you're getting married now, yes?"

**Author's Note:**

> come scream abt exo with me on twitter @httpsncity


End file.
